TSMC clocks a 28nm Cortex-A9 processor at 3.1GHz

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It seems like only yesterday the world marveled as HTC and Google created the Nexus One, powered by the first single core 1GHz mobile processor. Since then, the processor arms race has exploded to dual and even quad-core processors in mobile devices. The technology that powers our tiny handheld computers seems to double every time we blink. TSMC, the Taiwanese processor foundry, has revealed to the work their latest processor tests. In these tests, their dual core Cortex-A9 processor was able to exceed 3GHz in a “high performance” situation.

Most of the processors we see in smartphones today stay under 1.5GHz in their stock configuration. The 28nm processor from TSMC claims to have a base speed range of 1.5GHz, and can go up as high as 2GHz while in a mobile device. The 3.1GHz configuration is for high performance environments where some form of cooling system would be implemented, perhaps like an Ultrabook or a Smart TV where there’s a little more room for basic cooling systems. TSMC notes that this new 28nm processor performs twice as fast as their 40nm processor when tested under the same conditions.

The biggest question when it comes to putting that much power into a device is the power consumption. The tests performed here were purely to see how much power the processor is capable of, there’s no mention anywhere of how much energy was required to maintain something like 3.1GHz. While TSMC is clearly aiming for these powerful processors to be put in tablets and other mobile devices, it will be interesting to see if those processors are still capable of this kind of performance when put into a battery powered device.